FAMSI © 2007: William R. Fowler
The End of Pre-Columbian Pipil Civilization, Ciudad Vieja, El Salvador
With contributions by: Jeb J. Card, Department of Anthropology, Tulane University
Research Year: 2003
Culture: Pipil and Central Mexican Nahua
Chronology: Late Post Classic/Conquest
Location: Department of Cuscatlán, El Salvador
Site: Ciudad Vieja
Table of Contents
Abstract
Resumen
Introduction
Location, Setting, Context
Excavations and Architecture
The Ceramics of Ciudad Vieja
Overview
Methodology
Preliminary Group and Type Descriptions
Sampling
Late Postclassic/Conquest Component
Early Postclassic Component
Late or Postcolonial Component
Type Classification: Discussion
Spanish Pottery at Ciudad Vieja
Olive Jars
Majolica
Locally Produced Hybrid Plates: An In-Depth Analysis of Ciudad Vieja Colono
Ware
Methodology
Form
Decoration
Technology
Implications for Indigenous Occupation of San Salvador and Sixteenth-Century
Culture Change
The Chipped Stone Industry
Methodological and Theoretical Considerations
Procedure
The Collection
Typology
Discussion
List of Figures
List of Tables
Sources Cited
Abstract
The villa of San Salvador, founded in 1525 and refounded in 1528 as a Spanish
conquest city, had a resident indigenous (mostly Pipil as well as Tlaxcaltec and other
central Mexican Nahua) population that was perhaps twenty times greater in number
than its Spanish population. Abandoned in 1545, its 17-year occupation spans the
crucial years of the Conquest period in Central America. The well-preserved ruins of this
town, known today as the site of Ciudad Vieja, afford a rare opportunity for
archaeological study of the dynamics of early Spanish-Indian culture contact.
Archaeological research at the site emphasizes spatial study of the town, viewing it as a
cultural landscape, emphasizing the mutual interaction of the different cultural groups
that shared the terrain. Approximately two dozen Spanish cities were founded in Central
America during the Conquest period. Very few of them have been investigated
archaeologically, and Ciudad Vieja is unique among them for its exposure, preservation,
and ease of access. Research in 2003 and 2004 included detailed analyses of the
material culture of Ciudad Vieja. These analyses, conducted January 2003–August
2004, include formal, functional, and contextual analyses of ceramics and all artifact
industries. Included here are detailed summaries of the results of the ceramic and
obsidian investigations. Support from FAMSI enabled the project to complete these
tasks, and the results represent an advance in our knowledge of late pre-Columbian
and contact-period Pipil culture.
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Resumen
La villa de San Salvador, fundada en 1525 y vuelta a fundar en 1528 como una ciudad
de conquista española, tenía una población indígena residente (principalmente pipil, así
como tlaxcalteca y de otros grupos nahuas del centro de México) que era tal vez veinte
veces más grande en cantidad que la población española. Abandonada en 1545, su
ocupación de 17 años abarca los años cruciales del periodo de la Conquista en
Centroamérica. Las bien preservadas ruinas de este pueblo, actualmente conocidas
como Ciudad Vieja, nos dan una poco común oportunidad para estudiar
arqueológicamente las dinámicas del contacto cultural temprano entre españoles e
indios. La investigación arqueológica en este sitio enfatiza el estudio espacial del
pueblo, viéndolo como un paisaje cultural, poniendo énfasis sobre la mutua interacción
de los distintos grupos culturales que compartieron el terreno. Aproximadamente dos
docenas de ciudades fueron fundadas por los españoles en Centroamérica durante el
periodo de la Conquista. Muy pocas han sido investigadas arqueológicamente, y
Ciudad Vieja es única entre ellas por su grado de exposición, de preservación y de fácil
acceso. Las investigaciones en 2003–2004 incluyeron análisis detallados de la cultura
material de Ciudad Vieja, conducidos entre enero de 2003 y agosto de 2004. Estos
análisis consistieron en el estudio formal, funcional y contextual de las cerámicas y de
todas las industrias de artefactos. Aquí se incluyen resúmenes detallados de los
resultados de las investigaciones sobre cerámica y obsidiana. El apoyo de FAMSI
permitió al proyecto completar estas tareas, y los resultados representan un avance en
nuestro conocimiento de la cultura pipil de los periodos precolombino tardío y del
contacto.
Submitted 09/11/2006 by:
William R. Fowler
Department of Anthropology
Box 6050-B
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN 37235
[email protected]
Jeb J. Card
Department of Anthropology
Tulane University
New Orleans, LA 70118
[email protected]
[email protected]
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Figure 1. Map showing location of Ciudad Vieja within El Salvador.
Introduction
The research presented in the following pages was directed at advancing knowledge of
the late pre-Columbian Nahuat-speaking Pipils of El Salvador with detailed analyses of
the material culture of the conquest-period site of Ciudad Vieja, which a small number of
Spanish residents shared with Pipils and other indigenous Mesoamericans. At the time
of the Spanish conquest in 1524, the Pipils were the dominant indigenous culture of El
Salvador, occupying about two-thirds of the territory of the modern republic (Fowler
1989, 1991b). Two major Pipil polities dominated the area: the small Izalcos kingdom in
the west and the larger Cuscatlán kingdom in the central region. While the late preColumbian Pipils are well-known through ethnohistoric research (Fowler 1989), they are
virtually unknown archaeologically. This lack of knowledge calls for increased
archaeological research on the ancient Pipils during the Late Postclassic and Conquest
periods.
More than 35 years ago, John Longyear (1966:145) stated in a survey article on the
prehistoric archaeology of El Salvador, "the Postclassic period in central and western El
Salvador is represented for the most part by a fairly large number of isolated,
undocumented pottery and stone objects." Since these words were written, some
advances have been made in our knowledge of the Early Postclassic (Bruhns 1980;
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Fowler 1981, 1989; Kelley 1988), but Late Postclassic Pipil culture remains largely
unknown and poorly understood. Late Postclassic sites of the Pipil area have proven
elusive. In many cases, they probably lie beneath modern settlements. In the Zapotitán
Basin, a densely populated Pipil region where at least 14 Pipil settlements are known
historically for the time of the conquest, Black (1983) found only five Late Postclassic
sites in an extensive survey (cf. Sheets 1984:107). Since the Zapotitán Basin survey
covered a 15% sample, the five sites could be extrapolated to a predictable 33 sites. In
a survey of the region surrounding Antiguo Cuscatlán, supposedly the location of the
ancient Pipil capital, Amaroli (1986) found scant Late Postclassic ceramic materials and
no Late Postclassic structures or features. In the Paraíso Basin region of north-central
El Salvador, the region surrounding Ciudad Vieja, Fowler and Earnest (1985) recorded
no Late Postclassic sites. Andrews (1976) has noted a similar lack of Late Postclassic
material for eastern El Salvador.
Fortunately, this gap in our knowledge of late pre-Columbian Pipil culture has now been
partially filled. We have conducted full-scale, detailed analysis of the material culture of
the site of Ciudad Vieja, the ruins of the first permanently occupied villa de San
Salvador, located 10 km south of Suchitoto, El Salvador (Figure 1, shown above).
Founded in 1528 and abandoned in 1545, the population of San Salvador was
predominantly indigenous, composed mostly of pre-Columbian Pipils, Tlaxcaltecs, and
other indigenous Mesoamericans. A small contingent of Spanish conquistadors
accompanied by thousands of Tlaxcaltec and other Mexican auxiliary forces invaded the
area in 1524. Other non-Pipil Mesoamerican ethnic groups who participated included
Tetzcocans, Huexotzincans, Tepeyacans, Mexicas, Mixtecs, Soconusco Nahuas, and
Kaqchikel Mayas (Fowler 1989:135). The Spaniards founded the first villa of San
Salvador in 1525, probably also at the site of Ciudad Vieja. The Pipils rebelled and
drove out the Spaniards in 1526 (Barón Castro 1996:39-44). Pipil resistance waned by
1528, allowing the Spaniards and their indigenous allies to reenter and to found a more
permanent settlement, the second villa of San Salvador (Barón Castro 1996:87-91, 197202). This new town was built in an area to the north of Cuscatlán Pipil territory that
apparently had little or no indigenous settlement at the time of the conquest (Fowler and
Earnest 1985). It is reasonable to suppose that the region served as a buffer zone
between the Pipils to the west and south and the Lencas to the east.
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Figure 2. Regional map indicating the location of the site of Ciudad Vieja, El Salvador. Map by
Rebecca Cutler.
Location, Setting, Context
The archaeological site of Ciudad Vieja is located in central El Salvador at 13° 51' 33"
north latitude and 89° 01' 58" west longitude, at an elevation of 534 m above sea level.
The site was built on a small meseta formed by an extrusive andesite outcrop that rises
above a small natural basin south of the middle reaches of the Lempa River known as
the Paraíso Basin (Fowler and Earnest 1985). Before the construction of the city, the
top of this meseta would have been irregular and craggy with many andesite outcrops
and boulders, thus requiring extensive leveling and terracing (Figure 3 and Figure 4).
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The dominant natural features of the surrounding landscape are Cerro Tecomatepe, a
small remnant volcanic cone to the southwest, and the extinct Guazapa Volcano to the
west (Figure 2, shown above). The natural vegetation is tropical deciduous forest of the
seasonal formation series (Daugherty 1969:49; Fowler 1989b:82). Some characteristic
tree species of this formation are the ceiba (Ceiba pentandra), amate (Ficus spp.), and
conacaste (Enterolobium cyclocarpum). The area was probably very thickly wooded at
the time of the Conquest, thus requiring a great deal of clearing for the construction of
the city. The labor for clearing and leveling and for construction of the city was provided
by Pipil commoners from towns allied with the Cuscatlán polity. Agricultural tribute
commodities from the same communities supplied the city with food (Fowler 1989:155185).
Systematic archaeological research was begun at the site in 1996 under the direction of
William R. Fowler, working in close collaboration with the Consejo Nacional para la
Cultura y el Arte (CONCULTURA) of El Salvador. Since that time, five additional field
seasons of survey, mapping, and excavation have generated data revealing the strongly
indigenous character of the city (Fowler and Gallardo 2002). The site was built on a grid
plan with an area covering 45 ha, but the plan is polycentric rather than strictly
orthogonal, possibly reflecting indigenous influence (Figure 3 and Figure 4). The plaza
mayor, the church and cabildo (town hall) platforms, other buildings, streets, and house
lots are clearly visible on the surface. Many architectural features of the site, especially
house platforms and terraces, seem indigenous in character. Even the cabildo structure
itself, resembles more a Late Postclassic range structure than a European-style public
building. Several indigenous residences have been excavated at the site, and these are
clearly distinguishable from Spanish residences by their form and construction
techniques as well as artifact associations (Hamilton 2002). A strong indigenous
presence at San Salvador is also reflected in the ceramics and artifact complexes of
Ciudad Vieja. The site's surface is littered with ceramic sherds, and the ceramic
complex shares many forms and decorative modes representing continuities with known
Late Postclassic Pipil materials. In addition to the highly visible concentrations of
ceramics, obsidian artifacts occur in great numbers on the surface and in excavated
contexts. Pre-Columbian style ceramic figurines also occur, as do ceramic earspools
and ground-and-polished greenstone ornaments and other items of personal adornment
of indigenous origin (Card 2002). Objects associated with indigenous dietary patterns
are also found. Groundstone manos and metates occur in relatively high frequencies,
indicating indigenous food-preparation techniques. Analysis of the faunal remains of a
large midden deposit revealed the presence of dog (Canis familiaris) bones with
butchering marks (Scott 2002). In sum, the archaeological evidence indicates that this
early conquest-period town had a native Mesoamerican population of overwhelming
proportions.
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Figure 3. Site plan of Ciudad Vieja showing natural topography and cultural features, based on
original 1998 total station mapping. Map by Conard Hamilton.
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Figure 4. Projected map of Ciudad Vieja showing topography and grid-plan layout. Map by
Conard Hamilton. Black lines represent structures and features visible on surface; blue lines,
projected; red lines, hypothesized. The yellow rectangle at the southwest corner of the plaza
mayor indicates the location of recent excavations.
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Figure 5. Locations and designations of excavated structures. Map by Conard Hamilton.
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Excavations and Architecture
The analytical sections on ceramics and chipped-stone artifacts include references to
excavated structures. For the sake of clarity, we include here a brief descriptive
summary of the excavations and architecture of the most important structures. A total of
13 structures and five associated activity areas were excavated in seven field seasons
from 1996 to 2003 (Figure 5, shown above). Unless otherwise specified, the orientations
of the buildings follow the general site grid of 12°. The multicourse stone wall
foundations are usually 80-85 cm in width, or approximately one Spanish vara of 83 cm,
although some foundations were thicker, in the range of 100-120 cm. The foundations
run very deep, usually to at least 1 m below the uppermost course of stones. The width
and depth of foundations were correlated with the width and height of the walls
supported. The stones were generally carefully cut with at least one dressed face, laid
carefully to form noticeably straight foundations. Walls were generally constructed of
tapia or rammed earth, but in some cases adobe bricks were used. Floors were either
earthen or covered with baldosas (brick floor tiles); occasionally cobblestones arranged
in decorative patterns were used. Roofs were thatched or covered with tejas (ceramic
roof tiles) laid over a wooden framework.
Structure 4D1
The first structure to be excavated in the 1996 season was the substructure platform of
the cabildo or town hall building, designated Structure 4D1. The interpretation of this
structure as the cabildo is based on the known locations of cabildos in other Conquestperiod Spanish American towns, usually on the north side of the plaza. In some cases,
municipal buildings were located on the south or the west, but we have no good
candidates for the cabildo on those sides of the plaza at Ciudad Vieja. Located at the
northwest corner of the main plaza (Figure 3), this is an elongated, rectangular platform
measuring 8 m in width (north-south), 32 m in length (east-west), and 1.3 m in height
above the surrounding plaza. The structure is oriented at 12°.
The entire summit of the platform was stripped clear of its shallow overburden, revealing
the foundations and floors of four interior rooms. One room was paved with
cobblestones and another with baldosas, while the other two, probably for storage, had
earthen floors.
The platform faces south, with steps on that side leading down to an open space
bordering the north side of the plaza. These steps were constructed in and around a
series of large andesite boulders that were incorporated into the construction and also
formed part of the interior fill. We know of no Spanish civic structure that was built in this
way, and this would appear to be an indigenous building technique. Likewise, the linear,
rectangular shape of the platform is reminiscent of Postclassic structures in central El
Salvador.
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Additional excavations of the cabildo platform were conducted for CONCULTURA by
Roberto Gallardo in 2001 and 2002 and Herbert Erquicia in 2003. They discovered an
earlier construction level below the platform, lending support to the hypothesis of the
1525 settlement of the first villa in this location.
Structure 6F1
During the 1998 and 1999 seasons, excavations focused on four structures in the 6F
quadrant, in the northern sector of the site that appears to have been a high-status
Spanish neighborhood. This zone of the site was chosen for extensive excavation in
order to attempt to identify the range of activities within a single neighborhood outside of
the center of the city. The structures were contained within a single solar and built on
top of an extensive terrace which covered the entire solar. Excavation of Structure 6F1
was directed by Roberto Gallardo of CONCULTURA and the University of Colorado.
Located approximately 200 m north of the northeast corner of the main plaza, this was a
large elite Spanish residence with sleeping rooms, an interior courtyard, and storage
facilities. The structure was polygonal in shape, with the exterior walls measuring 44.2
m on the east, 18 m on the north, 33.4 m on the west, and 20.15 m on the south. The
east wall was oriented at 12°, but the other walls varied somewhat from the overall site
orientation. The main exterior entrance faced east toward a street that ran north-south
in front of the structure, with a secondary entrance on the south. The entranceway floor
was paved with cobblestones. Most of the interior patio was floored with baldosas and
roofed with tiles, as were the three rooms on the north. The latter are interpreted as
sleeping rooms. Four rooms on the west wing of the structure showed no evidence of
baldosas or roof tiles, leading to the inference that they had earthen floors and thatched
roofs. These are interpreted as storage rooms, probably for the storage of tribute
commodities.
Structure 6F2
This structure, located just to the north of Structure 6F1, was excavated by Fowler in
1998. It is rectangular, composed of three rooms aligned east-west. Overall exterior
dimensions are 7.4 m in width (north-south) and 19 m in length (east-west). The central
room contained the remains of an artesanal iron-working furnace, iron slag and debris,
carbon, and ash. A number of finished iron objects such as a horse bit, a chisel, and
many nails were recovered. The function of the other two rooms could have been for
storage or sleeping, but almost certainly associated with the activities of the blacksmith
who worked and likely lived here. An open gallery with a tiled roof was attached to the
north side of the structure. This could have been a stable. We hypothesize that the iron
working here was under the patronage of the high-status resident of Structure 6F1.
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Structure 6F3
Excavated in 1999 by Georgia West of SUNY-Albany, this small structure was
discovered in test excavations on the east edge of the 6F terrace, approximately 60 m
to the east of the principal entrance of Structure 6F1. Two small adjacent rooms were
revealed, one measuring 6 × 12 m (east-west) and the other 4 × 7.8 m (north-west).
One of the rooms contained the intact remains of a large earthen beehive-shaped oven
filled with carbon and sherds. A dense sheet midden was found eroding from the base
of the east edge of the terrace. These findings lend further support to the possibility of
the 1525 settlement being in this location.
Structure 6F4
Excavated during the 1999 season by Card, this structure was located directly in front of
and across a narrow street to the east of Structure 6F1. The central room of a westfacing multiroom structure was excavated. Its dimensions were approximately 7.5 ×
10.5 m, with the long axis running north-south. The room had an earthen floor and
thatched roof. A zone of the earthen floor was burned in the north end of the room, and
the presence of a mano and metate, and sherds of several large plates attest to a
function of this room as a food-preparation area. Furthermore, just to the south of the
room, we discovered and excavated part of a midden deposit with a great many animal
bones. Faunal species from this deposit identified by Elizabeth Scott of Illinois State
University include pig or javalí (Sus scrofa/Tayassu tajacu), dog (Canis familiaris), rabbit
(Sylvilagus floridanus), deer (possible) (Odocoileus virginianus), cattle (possible) (Bos
taurus), chicken (possible) (Gallus gallus), turkey (possible) (Meleagris gallopavo), frog
(Rana spp.), and catfish (Galeichthys spp.), indicating a varied protein diet. Since no
kitchen area was found associated with Structure 6F1, we hypothesize that this room of
Structure 6F4 served as the food-preparation area for the residents of Structure 6F1.
Structure 1D1
This structure was excavated by Conard Hamilton with the intent of testing a possible
non-Spanish structure. Located outside the city proper atop a small hill, approximately
40 m to the south of the south boundary of the formal grid plan and oriented at 20°, the
structure measures approximately 6.3 × 7.3 m (east-west). It had a thatched roof and
earthen floor. A significant concentration of obsidian artifacts recovered from this
structure, including an arrow point, suggests the presence of Indian occupants. The
absence of cooking/serving vessels and grinding stones would seem to preclude a
domestic function. The location outside the city on a hill with a good view in all
directions suggests a military function as an observation post, and the lack of Spanishassociated traits suggest that this structure was possibly manned by Tlaxcaltec troops.
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Structure 2F1
Situated on the eastern end of a terrace on the southern periphery of the site, barely
within the eastern limits of the city proper, this structure, excavated by Conard Hamilton
in 1999, is quite different from known Spanish structures closer to the center of the city.
It has irregular dimensions, approximately 5.5 m north-south and 10.5 m east-west. The
orientation of each foundation wall is also irregular with the east wall at 8°. Its
foundations were formed by single rows of large, uncut stones. The roof was thatched,
and the floor was earthen. Two spindle whorls were recovered from within the structure.
Obsidian artifacts were prevalent here, including several arrow points. All these
characteristics plus the location of the structure strongly suggest a non-Spanish
presence. It is quite possible that the sector of the site was an indigenous barrio, but
this possibility needs to be tested by further excavations.
Structure 3D1
Excavated in 2001 by the authors, this was the first of several structures to be
investigated on the southwest corner and the south side of the plaza where efforts are
now being focused. Textual evidence suggests the presence of commercial structures
"on the plaza" in San Salvador (Altman 1991), and we propose that they were located in
this area. Located approximately 150 m south of the cabildo and just off the southwest
corner of the plaza, this structure was initially identified on the surface by a very dense
concentration of roof tile fragments. Approximately 50% of the structure was excavated.
While the exact dimensions of the full structure are unknown at this point, the excavated
portion measures approximately 12 m east-west and 20 m north-south. The orientation
seems to conform to the overall grid plan of 12°. The structure was built on a very deep
platform of solid stone construction running to a depth of 103 cm. No internal room
divisions were found, suggesting a single, one-room, nonresidential structure. The roof
was tiled, and the floor was adorned with deep red floor tiles forming a checkerboard
pattern. All in all, the architectural features suggest a special-function structure rather
than a residence, and a commercial function is a strong possibility. As discussed below,
this structure has a high incidence of imported Spanish pottery (including a large
number of olive jar fragments, a fragment of Columbia Plain majolica, and a Caparra
Blue majolica drug jar), and it has the highest percentage of brimmed plates associated
with it, making up 29% of all vessels with an identifiable form.
Structure 3D2
The subsurface remote sensing conducted in 2002 indicated numerous linear and
rectilinear anomalies representing a street and a number of structures on the south side
of the main plaza (Bales, Reynolds, and Kvamme 2003; Reynolds and Bales 2003).
Recognition of these features substantially changed our view and understanding of the
plaza, and, more importantly, none of them was visible on the surface. Especially
14
interesting was an apparent structure with three rooms in a north-south alignment
forming the interior southwest corner of the plaza and a series of attached rooms to the
east.
Excavations began here, directed by Fowler, in January 2003. We found another
blacksmith's shop on the southwest corner of the plaza, an adjacent food-preparation
area and charcoal manufacturing area to the east, and a street that enters the
southwest corner of the plaza, turns at the corner of the blacksmith's shop, and runs
toward the southwest corner of the church platform. This cluster of rooms was
designated Structure 3D2 (Figure 5). The blacksmith's shop on the corner measures
approximately 18.5 m north-south and 6.7 m east-west. The furnace was located in the
northern room. It was associated with a long, narrow tempering tank constructed in the
floor, apparently for tempering swords. Adjoining this structure was a large, open room
measuring 12.2 m east-west and 7.1 m north-south. Here we found a number of partial
and complete cooking and serving vessels. Smaller rooms continue to the east. We
interpret this cluster of rooms on the south side of the plaza as a market/industrial area
producing and selling iron tools and weapons, food, and probably many other items as
well.
The Ceramics of Ciudad Vieja
Overview
One of the most concrete manifestations of culture change at Ciudad Vieja can be
found in the locally produced ceramic vessels, in particular, those used for serving and
eating food. Barring the specific depredations experienced by those enslaved or
otherwise oppressed in the villa of San Salvador, food consumption occurred several
times every day, in every household in town, during the occupation of the site. The
regularity of consumption means regular replacement of broken, or sometimes, out of
fashion, serving vessels and implements. Furthermore, while eating can be a simple
affair, or an intimate one, dining can also be an important social, political, or even ritual
activity.
The vast majority of pottery used at Ciudad Vieja was of local production by indigenous
potters. Spanish potters had barely begun work in the American colonies during the
occupation of the villa of San Salvador, at La Isabella in Hispaniola (Deagan and
Cruxent 2002), and probably in México City after 1530 (Lister and Lister 1982), but
these industries do not seem to have had much impact on Ciudad Vieja. Spanish
pottery makes up only a small percentage of the Ciudad Vieja ceramic collection.
Transport vessels, in the form of cheap amphora-like "olive jars" used for moving liquids
or grains over land (Goggin 1960; Marken 1994), and majolica drug jars containing
medicines (Lister and Lister 1987), are the most common of the imported ceramics. The
olive jars provide the best artifact-based evidence for agreement with the historicallydocumented occupation and abandonment dates of the villa de San Salvador. The
excavated examples all correspond to the Early Period of thin-walled spouts, with no
15
examples of the Middle period thick "donut" necks (Deagan 1987, Goggin 1960). We
have not recovered any Ming porcelain from Ciudad Vieja, which began to appear in
Central America and New Spain after A.D. 1572.
A small number of tin-glazed majolica serving vessels, escudilla bowls and brimmed
plates, was imported from Seville (Deagan 1987; Goggin 1968), represented in the
ceramic assemblage by a handful of sherds. The lack of Spanish utilitarian household
ceramics, especially cooking vessels, is a pattern replicated throughout the colonies
(McEwan 1992). A major factor for this pattern is most likely based on gender; that is,
men made up the bulk of European immigrants to the Spanish colonies during the first
decades of the Conquest. Indigenous women would have been the primary cooks of
San Salvador, and not surprisingly, as is the case in other Spanish colonies, food
preparation vessels show the greatest continuity from pre-Conquest times (Ewen 1991).
The following analysis is composed of three parts: The first is a preliminary but
comprehensive descriptive classification of the indigenous ceramics that make up the
majority of artifacts recovered from Ciudad Vieja. In addition to being of interest in
understanding the Villa de San Salvador and the beginnings of colonial society in
Central America, this classification will be of interest to archaeologists studying
Postclassic sites in the region. While analysis is still underway, relationships to
previously published types are presented where possible.
The second part is a short discussion of imported European ceramics found at Ciudad
Vieja. The small quantity of olive jars and majolica are important for cross-dating, and
for understanding some of the transformations in indigenous craft manufacture during
the early sixteenth century.
The third section is an overview and introduction to an analysis of one of the most
intriguing elements of material culture at Ciudad Vieja; indigenously produced serving
vessels that incorporate stylistically the form of imported European majolica plates.
These colono ware vessels were given particular attention because of what they may
reveal about the contact between Mesoamerican and European cultures. In addition to
being valuable chronological markers in their own right, and a physical manifestation of
cultural hybridization very early in the phenomenon of the Spanish Conquest, we have
found that the hybrid plates of Ciudad Vieja also reflect a major element of the
indigenous community of the villa of San Salvador. (See Figure 6.)
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Figure 6. Some examples of ceramic vessels from Ciudad Vieja, all to scale.
Methodology
A nested hierarchy of analyses were conducted during the study of the Ciudad Vieja
ceramic collection. These include the following:
Type Description – described below. This is the most basic analysis of the Ciudad Vieja
collection. Preliminary group and type descriptions are included in this report, more
detailed attribute analysis and tallies are in process. A preliminary estimate of roughly
10,000 sherds were analyzed in full for type description, with an additional estimated
15,000 sherds classed to type within the primary ceramic group. A separate database of
17
handles, and another of tripod supports, classified by form and metric attributes, were
created to aid in this analysis.
Plate Data Base – Detailed analysis of sherds from 618 hybrid colonware plates
produced by indigenous potters, but using European plate forms. Methods and results
included in this report.
Form and Function – Detailed analysis of rim form and other evidence for the use
vessels. 1,900 rim sherds were classified by rim profile (at least 1,023 rim sherds were
individually drawn by Card, the remainder were classified as sufficiently similar to those
drawn), and additional metric measurements (orifice diameter, vessel wall thickness,
vessel wall angle) and non-metric measurements (presence and type of handle, sooting
or other evidence of use). Classification of these vessels into form categories and
potential functional categories is underway. Correspondence analysis of presumed
excavated activity areas using preliminary form categories has yielded some interesting
results in comparison with other architectural and artifact evidence, but more work is
needed.
Preliminary Group and Type Descriptions
Data Collection
The following information was recorded for each sherd analyzed in full:
 Description – Preliminary classification by ware, texture (primarily, fine or coarse,
as defined below in the Alvarado description).
 Form – One of several hundred rim profiles for rim sherds, otherwise, a general
description if applicable.
 Portion – Rim, neck, handle, body, base, support.
 Appendage – Form of handle or support, if applicable.
 Exterior Surface, Interior Surface – Surface treatment (not treated in this report,
under analysis for full classificatory description).
 Motif – Painted or other decoration, if applicable (not treated in this report, under
analysis for full classificatory description).
 Count – Number of sherds sharing all other variables in a lot. Sherds that could
be identified as belonging to the same vessel are conflated into individual
"vessels" for the purposes of this analysis.
 Weight – Weight of all sherds sharing all other variables in a lot.
 Notes – Miscellaneous notes, including core morphology and color (not treated in
this report, under analysis for full classificatory description).
Fuller analysis, including at the level of variety and of the range of forms for each
specific type and variety, is ongoing.
18
Sampling
All lots were initially screened through a plastic 1.5 cm mesh. All sherds smaller than
1.5 cm were tallied and weighed with no further analysis.
All diagnostic sherds of the primary Alvarado group were analyzed in full (rims, handles,
bases, tapas, sherds with paint or other form of decoration, slips of a color other than
the paste body). In addition, all sherds that could be identified as being from plates were
analyzed. All potsherds that were picked out during sampling as being of a group other
than Alvarado were also analyzed.
Of the remaining nondiagnostic sherds (non-decorated Alvarado group body sherds),
15% (sampled for each lot, rounding up) were sampled for full analysis. In the case of
Figueroa type sherds, these were sampled separately, so as to maintain a record of the
full count of Figueroa sherds versus normal Alvarado sherds.
In practice this strategy resulted in full analysis of roughly 40% (by weight) of Alvarado
group sherds, and roughly 50% of all sherds (by weight). Since all non-analyzed sherds
are non-diagnostic body sherds, we feel confident that this sample is sufficient for
understanding the Ciudad Vieja collection.
Late Postclassic/Conquest Component
Alvarado Group:
The Alvarado group encompasses the most commonly encountered ceramic vessel
artifacts at Ciudad Vieja, and may only be eclipsed in all artifact categories by ceramic
roof tile fragments associated with structures built in Spanish style. Artifact tallying is still
underway, but a preliminary overview of the collection suggests that 80+% of all ceramic
vessel artifacts recovered from Ciudad Vieja belong to the Alvarado group.
The following types are part of the Alvarado Group:






Alvarado–Alvarado
Alvarado–Oliveros
Alvarado–Figueroa
Alvarado–Peñacorba
Alvarado–Castellon
Alvarado–Sandy
Paste (for all Alvarado with stated exceptions):
General Description: Alvarado paste can be divided along two axes: inclusion density
(coarseness) and color.
19
Inclusions: A wide variety of inclusions are found in Alvarado sherds, including small
fragments of obsidian, quartz, grog, and small red ferric inclusions, and small
unidentified black minerals. However, the primary inclusion is white volcanic pumice.
Under 10x–20x magnification, inclusion particles were recorded in the size classes of
Medium Sand (2.0–0.43 mm) and Fine Sand (0.43–0.08 mm) in the Unified Soil
Classification System (USCS). The density of particles in each of these size ranges was
then estimated through visual comparison with a density chart.
Alvarado paste was broken into two basic groupings (coarse & fine) based on the
density of medium sand-sized particles. Sherds presenting an estimated 3% or less of
medium sand particles were classed as Fine Alvarado, while all other sherds were
classed as Coarse Alvarado.
Color: Alvarado paste can range from brown to nearly cream/white, but the bulk ranges
from a light brown to reddish yellow, and would be considered "buff."
Observation of partial vessels and large sherds shows that Alvarado paste color can
change quite dramatically within a single vessel, especially in terms of lighter and darker
shades, but also in hue. The basic color difference that was used in classing Alvarado
paste was the presence of a reddish tinge to the paste. Alvarado sherds that did not
present a significant reddish or yellowish tinge were classified as Pale Alvarado. Such
sherds range from a very light to a medium brown. Sherds that did present a yellowish
or reddish tinge were classed as Orange Alvarado. In some cases, orange is a proper
description for these sherds, but in many cases a yellowish brown is more accurate.
While it is possible that in some cases, vessel integrity will be violated by the
differentiation of orange and pale Alvarado, some vessels show that while chroma and
value may change, basic hue is somewhat more resistant. This is why subtle shifts in
hue/chroma were chosen over more obvious differences in value. However, due to
these uncertainties, differentiation based on color is subordinate to differentiation based
on inclusion particle size and density.
Most common colors (Munsell):
 Orange: 5YR 5/6, 6/6
 Pale: 7.5YR 5/4, 6/4, 7/4; 5YR 6/4
 Brown: 5YR 4/3; 7.5YR 5/4
Types
Alvarado–Alvarado
General attributes: Self-slipped buff to orange vessels. Wide variety of forms. Red
painted geometric decorations on water bottles (cántaros) and serving vessels (mostly
hybrid-form plates, some bowls).
Paste: See above.
20
Surface treatment: Typically smoothed, burnished, or polished. Interior of water bottles
are distinctively scraped. Most examples are probably self-slipped.
Decoration: Some cántaros (specifically, pale/buff vessels with recurve bulbous necks
are decorated; a separate class of typically orange-paste "trumpet" outcurving necked
cántaros are undecorated) and serving vessels were decorated with red (10R 3/6, 4/4)
painted geometric designs. Plates and bowls most commonly have parallel lines
arranged perpendicular to the rim of the vessel (vertical in bowls, pointing inward in
horizontal plates). More varied designs are found in small numbers. Most bowls have a
solid red rim band. Cántaros are divided into three zones for the purposes of decoration.
The neck (if bulbous, see below) may have a diagonal set of zigzag lines surrounded by
straight lines perpendicular to the zigzag. The shoulder of the vessel is covered with a
field of red paint intersected by non-painted "channels" of vessel surface color that form
angular abstract or scroll motifs. The lower body of the cántaro below the shoulder is
mostly unpainted, but includes vertically descending red painted wide stripes or
pennants. This decoration scheme is very similar to that of Early Postclassic Nunuapa
Red-Painted–Nunuapa cántaros of Chalchuapa (Sharer 1978:60, Figure 30e:1-3).
Figure 7. Alvarado–Alvarado red-painted cántaro (with the rarer vertical stripe motif, instead of
triangular pennants).
Forms: Wide variety of storage and/or cooking (incurving, straight-walled, and shortnecked jars; comal griddles; shallow sartén frying pans), transport (cántaros), and
21
serving vessels (hybrid plates, bowls). Cántaros have vertical strap handles, but strap
handles (both vertical and horizontal) are used on a wide variety of forms. One form is
unique to Alvarado–Alvarado, the zoomorphic support tripod bowl.
Discussion: Based on Amaroli (1992) as well as observation and study of pottery from
the Río Ceniza valley, in the Izalco region (Kathryn E. Sampeck, personal
communication, 2002), both Amaroli's Cuscatlán and Teshcal groups seem to bear a
similarity to the Alvarado group. Amaroli (1992:12-13) described the paste of the
Cuscatlán group as, "café rojizo a café amarillento claro ('bayo'), sin núcleos, con
particulas entre rojizas a negras, redondeadas y angulares, de 1 mm o menos. Densa
pero no excepcionalmente dura."
Amaroli's Cuscatlán group is found in the same area of central El Salvador that includes
Ciudad Vieja, and other elements of the group (form, decoration) are in agreement.
While the medium sand classification used in the description above ranges to 2 mm, the
bulk of particles in this class in the observed ceramics are closer to 1 mm in size.
Alvarado group ceramics can present lighter or less oxidized cores, but this attribute
does not occur on a regular enough basis to be diagnostic. However, Amaroli's
description of the paste of Teshcal group ceramics, found primarily in the Izalcos region,
is difficult to segregate from that given for Cuscatlán. Teshcal paste is "café rojizo medio
hasta claro, con partículas heterogéneas oscuras, redondeadas y angulares, de 1 mm o
menos" (Amaroli 1992:15).
From this description, it would appear that Teshcal ceramics are perhaps slightly less
yellowish (though still reddish) than Cuscatlán ceramics. Both are generally burnished
but not slipped. Instead, the primary difference seems to be one of form (Teshcal
vessels are typically bowl-shaped) and decoration (durability of paint, design motifs).
Observation and study of sherds classified as Teshcal by Sampeck in the Río Ceniza
valley (Kathryn E. Sampeck, personal communication, 2002) suggests that those
materials show similarities to Alvarado–Alvarado. It therefore seems unfeasible, at this
point, to make a differentiation.
Overall, all of these types are sixteenth-century variants of a general red on natural buff
tradition in Postclassic El Salvador that includes Nunuapa Red Painted from Sharer's
(1978) Early Postclassic Matzin component and Late Postclassic Marihua Red on Buff
(Haberland 1964).
22
Figure 8. Alvarado–Alvarado sartén.
Alvarado–Castellon
Distinguishing characteristics: Similar to Alvarado–Alvarado, but show evidence of
being solidly slipped red. Emphasis on hybrid plate forms.
Alvarado–Figueroa
Distinguishing characteristics: Harder variety of Alvarado group paste.
23
Paste: Upon visual inspection, appears identical to normal Alvarado ware paste.
However, the paste is harder than that of the larger Alvarado group, and requires more
force to break. When broken, does not typically fragment or crumble, instead produces
clean breaks and "sharp" edges. Sherds will clink or ring when tapped with or against a
hard surface.
Form: Wide variety, like Alvarado. Body is slightly thinner than that of typical Alvarado
vessels.
Surface: Polished or burnished. May be particularly lustrous but may also be relatively
matte. Burnishing can in some cases be sloppy, or slightly linear, but Figueroa is not
characterized by linear burnishing.
Decoration: Similar to that of Alvarado–Alvarado, though less commonly decorated.
Discussion: The hardness may be due to particularly intense polishing or burnishing
(but see Figueroa), or it may be due to higher firing temperatures. Found at a few other
locations on site, but the bulk of the type was found in and around Structure 3D2. The
occurrence of an iron forge within this structure has suggested the possibility that
Figueroa vessels may result from firing at higher temperatures within the forge, but this
suggestion requires additional excavation elsewhere on site, and possibly physical
testing, for confirmation.
Alvarado–Peñacorba
Distinguishing characteristics: Hard paste like Figueroa. Linear burnishing. Darker color.
Emphasis on utilitarian forms.
Paste: Extremely hard, even harder than Figueroa. Unlike Figueroa, Peñacorba differs
from the standard Alvarado population by tending more to the brown and black, either
through reduction firing or through use. Rings when struck, does not crumble, breaks
with clean and sharp edges.
Form: Includes most forms in the Alvarado inventory, but with an emphasis on utilitarian
cooking wares. Whether this is a primary characteristic of the type, or if this reflects the
activities of the activity area within which the type is found (see Discussion), or both, is
uncertain.
Surface: Some surfaces can be highly polished, but the primary distinguishing
characteristic of Peñacorba is intensely burnished surfaces, usually linear burnished
(with some gaps left between burnishing facets).
Decoration: Some serving vessels are decorated, but the emphasis on utilitarian
vessels leaves most Peñacorba vessels plain.
Discussion: While firing may play a role in the hardness of Peñacorba paste, the intense
burnishing must also play a role. With perhaps one or two exceptions (individual
sherds), this type was found exclusively in Structure 6F4. Excavation of other middens
24
at Ciudad Vieja, have turned up cooking vessels in large quantities, but not the
Peñacorba type. This suggests that, while there may be a functional element to the
presence of Peñacorba as a primarily utilitarian cooking ware, the exclusive distribution
of the type at Structure 6F4 may reflect either a chronological difference, and/or
evidence for localized production of these vessels for the kitchen at Structure 6F4,
and/or evidence for a different distribution pathway for ceramic vessels to Structure 6F4
than the other excavated areas of the site. The form of a number of Peñacorba ollas,
and the linear burnishing, show strong ties to, or possibly a local variant of, the
protohistoric Joateca type from Chalchuapa (Sharer 1978: 64-65).
Figure 9. Alvarado–Peñacorba rim sherd. Note darker brown color, and distinctive burnishing
marks.
Alvarado–Oliveros
Distinguishing characteristics: Crumbly paste, often brown. Low quantity of inclusions,
but unlike well-sorted Fine texture vessels, the lack of inclusions makes these crudely
formed vessels friable. Utilitarian vessels, rarely decorated. Type classification still in
process.
25
Alvarado–Sandy
Distinguishing characteristics: Perhaps a variant of Alvarado–Alvarado. Higher quartz
sand/grit content. Surfaces erode more easily, and when handled leave substantial
sand dust. Some examples of large compound sartén cooking pans have a thin red or
orange wash or slip on vessel exterior. Otherwise, similar to Alvarado–Alvarado Coarse.
Possible Types Within the Alvarado Group
The following three types may be part of the Alvarado group, but some paste
differences led to initial separate classification.
Salvago
Distinguishing characteristics: Similar to Alvarado–Figueroa–Coarse, typically orange in
color. However, Salvago has only low quantities of medium-sized white pumice
fragments, a major element of the standard Alvarado temper mix. A large number are
from cántaro vessels, but the paste can occur in other forms.
Figure 10. Salvago cántaro.
26
Bonifacio
(Name derived from personal communication from Kathryn E. Sampeck, 2002)
Distinguishing characteristics: Likely part of Alvarado–Alvarado, some examples have
Salvago-style paste, leading to initial separate classification. Otherwise, is a variant of
the Alvarado–Alvarado painted cántaro described above. Decorated with a trichrome
pattern large red fields on cántaros. In between these painted fields are channels of the
underlying pale to orange paste color. Within these channels are medium to thin painted
black lines that run parallel to the edge of the channel/red fields. It appears to be
analogous to Early Postclassic Chamula Polychrome from Chalchuapa (Sharer
1978:60).
Figure 11. Bonifacio Polychrome sherd.
Holguín
Distinguishing characteristics: Brown-black reduced fine paste, though not friable like
Alvarado–Oliveros. Utilitarian "sack" vessels, tab or small horizontal strap handles.
27
Paste: Finely tempered, but since most examples are burnt or reduced to a dark brown
or black, classification is somewhat difficult. Lacks the medium white pumice of most
Alvarado. Not friable like Alvarado–Oliveros.
Color: Typically dark brown or black on exterior (7.5YR 3/2, 5YR 4/2, 5YR 3/1). Interior
can be a well smoothed pale or brown (7.5YR 4/2, 5YR 4/2).
Decoration: None
Surface treatment: Interior generally smoothed or lightly polished. Exterior usually
burnished below shoulder.
Forms: Utilitarian open-mouthed cooking vessels, often with relatively straight walls
("sack" vessels). Small tab or horizontal strap handles are located below rim.
Discussion: Very similar to Pantaleón vessels at later sixteenth-century Caluco in
western El Salvador (Verhagen 1997; Kathryn E. Sampeck, personal communication,
2002).
Non-Alvarado Groups
Fine Gray Ware
Distinguishing characteristics: Extremely fine gray to brown paste. Highly polished and
lustrous surfaces. Incurving bowls, potentially with tripod supports.
Paste: An extremely fine gray, dark gray, or brown. Temper is completely fine in size,
and in some cases virtually non-existent. Cores can take up much of clay body.
Form: Incurving or slightly incurving bowls are the only form for this group. No handles,
tabs, or lugs. The most complete example has scars from tripod supports, but there is
no evidence as to the size or form of the supports.
Surface treatment: Extremely well polished interior and exterior, with a slightly streaky
quality when it comes to color variation in the vessel. Some examples have scorching or
fire-clouding on the bottom of the interior and exterior of the vessel, but whether this is
due to firing or use over a fire is unknown.
Decoration: None.
Discussion: One of the major non-Alvarado groups at Ciudad Vieja. Present in low but
persistent quantities in most excavations. William Fowler and Howard Earnest (personal
communication) suggest potential match to the gray bowl tradition of Oaxaca (Fowler)
or possibly Puebla (Earnest). There does seem to be some general similarity in regards
to form for Late Postclassic Bowls (see Markens 2004 for Chila phase grayware tripod
bowls), but personal communication with archaeologists working in Oaxaca (Joyce
28
Marcus, personal communication, 2003) has contradicted this. At this time, potential
connections to other regions of Mesoamerica must wait for further analysis. If the Fine
Gray bowls are eventually tied to another region, one possible explanation for their
presence may come from the presence of Mexican auxiliary troops at Ciudad Vieja. All
of the vessels are medium sized bowls, somewhat incurving in most cases. A few
examples suggest possible use over a fire, but the bowls would also be quite suited to
serving and consumption of food. Perhaps these bowls were a form of mess kit for
warriors on the move in a long-distance campaign, serving as 2-in-1 cooking and dining
bowls for Mexican men cooking for themselves and with no desire to carry a larger array
of food preparation vessels.
Figure 12. Fine Gray ware bowl. This is the only known tripod example.
29
Usagre
Distinguishing characteristics: Thick (around 1 cm) vessel walls. Gray to slightly
yellowish paste (not the same as Fine Gray bowls). Primarily quartz and pumice temper.
Thick loop handles. Utilitarian jars or bottles. Thick, dark gray cores.
Paste: The paste itself seems finer and denser than that of Alvarado, also more easily
eroded. Tempering can be fine or coarse, but temper is primarily quartz and pumice,
and not the more varied mix of the Alvarado group. Vessel walls are thick, typically
around 0.75 cm, but ranging from 0.57–1.78 cm (10 examples). Roughly one-quarter
(11 of 45 examples), has a thick dark gray core (10YR 4/1, 5/1). Vessel color is
generally a light gray to dirty white, with some hint of yellow in a few cases (10YR 5/4,
6/3, 6/4, 6/6, 7/2, 7/3, 7/4, 7/6, 8/1, 8/2, 8/3, 8/8).
Form: Only one rim (Rim 1340) was recovered for this type, an open, nearly flat vessel
with a tapering rim (Rim Form 722) with an orifice diameter of 28 cm. However, the
recovered body sherds indicate that most Usagre vessels had globular incurving bodies.
Five handles were recovered; two loop handles, and three strap handles. While no neck
fragments have been recovered, one-quarter (11 of 45 examples) are scraped on the
interior, a feature associated with cántaro water bottles at Ciudad Vieja, and an
additional two examples have rough non-smoothed interiors.
Surface treatment: Exterior generally polished (21 examples), smoothed (12 examples),
or burnished (6 examples). Interior surfaces roughly split between scraped (11
examples), polished (11 examples), and smoothed (8 examples).
Decoration: One vessel had a light orange wash applied to the interior and exterior of
the vessel, and another had a remnant of red paint on the exterior, but otherwise, the
surfaces are not slipped or painted.
Discussion: Preliminary analysis suggests a possible link to one of Sharer's (1978:75)
special minority types, Crude-unslipped, from the Late Postclassic to Protohistoric Ahal
component of Chalchuapa.
30
Figure 13. Usagre vessel.
Bermúdez
Distinguishing characteristics: Fine soft orange paste. Typically completely red slipped.
Paste: Finely tempered, lacking the medium sized tuff/pumice inclusions of the Alvarado
Group. Paste is orange, very soft and easily eroded. In at least one case, firing core
occupied nearly entire body, with a dark gray in one half of vessel, while in another
paste is strongly orange.
Form: Primarily colono plates (Italianate, as well as two of the Morisco plates). Two
examples of scalloped rim bowl, also influenced by European ceramics and glassware.
Pedestal foot (possibly for cup, but may also be in imitation of footed plates and dishes
of Italianate Majolica tradition). Exterior knob appliqué. Bowl. Handled vessel, likely
bottle or necked jar (forms H2, H13 vertical).
Surface treatment: Usually covered interior and exterior with a thick, soft, red slip. The
slip may be burnished or especially polished, but in other cases, is simply applied and
not further treated. In some cases the exterior is not slipped, though after polishing, the
strong orange color of the paste, after polishing or burnishing, may be difficult to
distinguish upon initial observation from the interior slip.
31
Decoration: Typically undecorated red slip. One example with what may be a resist
pattern of lines perpendicular to the interior brim of colono plate. One example with two
horizontal black lines.
Figure 14. Bermúdez colono ware plate.
Discussion: Besides the Fine Gray Bowls, this is the only other major non-Alvarado
ware at Ciudad Vieja. Part of the Postclassic red bowl tradition in El Salvador (Cihuatán,
Izalco). Appears related to the Postclassic and possibly protohistoric Guajoyo Redbrown from Chalchuapa (Sharer 1978:62-63) and García Red from Guazapa-phase
Early Postclassic central El Salvador (Fowler 1981:163-178). Classified by Sampeck
(personal communication, 2002) as Teofilo (Verhagen 1997), but there are some
significant paste and slip differences. Scalloped rim bowls and presence at Caluco raise
the possibility that this may be a somewhat later group than Alvarado, but it is equally
32
plausible that both Alvarado and Bermúdez date to the entire Ciudad Vieja occupation,
and Bermúdez simply thrives somewhat more either in the west, or later in time.
Catalina Red-on-White
(derived from Verhagen 1997 and Kathryn E. Sampeck, personal communication, 2002)
Distinguishing characteristics: Brick Red Paste. White, cream, or light tan slipped
interior, tan slipped exterior. Broad red rim band. Geometric red designs.
Paste: Typically, though not always, brick red paste (exception is a light brown),
relatively fine.
Form: Open bowls or deep dishes.
Surface treatment: Interior slipped cream/white or light tan. Exterior slipped either
cream/white, or tan. The white/cream slip may be an earlier feature, becoming less
common through time, especially during and after the Conquest. Usually polished on
both surfaces, or well-smoothed.
Decoration: Broad, clean-edge, red band on interior and exterior of rim. From Ciudad
Vieja materials, decoration is difficult to describe beyond being red geometric. However,
comparison with Sampeck's materials from western El Salvador show more detailed
designs, including step-frets and scrolls, than those of the Alvarado group.
Discussion: In Kathryn Sampeck's work in the Izalcos region (type defined as part of this
work, Sampeck, personal communication, 2002), it seems that Catalina is the precursor
of the Protohistoric Teshcal group (Amaroli 1992). Given the obvious similarities
between Teshcal, the Cuscatlán group as defined by Amaroli (1992), and the Alvarado
group, Catalina is presumably ancestrally related to all of these Postclassic (Haberland
1964) and Protohistoric red-on-buff traditions. However, the scarce two sherds of
Catalina Red-on-White found at Ciudad Vieja suggest it may be an isolated trade/carry
ware.
Early Postclassic Component
In addition to the primary Late Postclassic/Contact component, a smattering of sherds
of Early Postclassic date (Cobos 1994:74-85) have been found in isolated contexts,
including white-slipped Nicoya Polychromes, Las Lajas, and Tohil Plumbate, all of which
are part of the Early Postclassic Guazapa ceramic complex defined by Fowler
(1981:117-269) at Cihuatán, El Salvador. However, to date, no actual deposits dating to
this period have been found at Ciudad Vieja.
33
Late or Postcolonial Component
Crudely formed massive "comma"-rimmed comales and sugar straining vessels are
found primarily on the surface at Ciudad Vieja, though occasionally in excavated
contexts. Further classification of these sherds is ongoing, but they are currently
classified as a 19th–20th century type called Telesforo in western El Salvador
(Sampeck, personal communication, 2002). The thick walls of these vessels (typically
over 1 cm, double or more the average thickness of protohistoric vessel walls) make for
relatively easy identification.
Type Classification: Discussion
Overall, the bulk of Ciudad Vieja pottery is not a major departure from that of the Early
or Late Postclassic, with ties to groups defined at Chalchuapa, Cihuatán, and other
locations in central and western El Salvador. As would be expected in a Spanish
colonial town, ritual forms such as censers have all but disappeared. Gone too are any
influences from the pan-Mesoamerican Mixteca Puebla art style that in some sense
defines the Postclassic period as an archaeological horizon. Artwork depicting animal or
human figures disappears, with the possible exception of abstractly zoomorphic
supports for tripod bowls. Molcajetes have also vanished from the kitchen inventory, a
puzzling development given the otherwise strong indigenous influence in domestic
culture.
Somewhat more surprising is the importance of indigenous serving and other decorated
wares in all parts of Ciudad Vieja. As noted to a lesser extent in sixteenth-century
México City (Rodríguez-Alegría, Neff, and Glascock 2003), indigenous ceramics
retained their importance at Ciudad Vieja, in what was considered a Spanish conquest
center. This point is examined in further detail below in the section on hybrid colono
ware plates.
Spanish Pottery at Ciudad Vieja
Olive Jars
Five hundred sixty fragments (adjusted to 475 possibly from individual vessels) of
Spanish Olive Jars have been recovered from Ciudad Vieja. Though complete ceramic
tallies are not finished, it is doubtful that Olive Jars make up more than 2% of the entire
Ciudad Vieja ceramic assemblage, an extremely low quantity for a typical Spanish
colonial site. Olive jars are considered a ubiquitous feature of Spanish colonial sites,
discarded after the transport of liquids or granular solids from ship landings. With one
exception, all Olive Jar rims at Ciudad Vieja belong to the Goggin's (1960) early style
(see also Marken 1994: Fig. 4.1), replaced by doughnut-necked middle-style jars in the
Spanish colonies by 1580, though perhaps as early as the 1560s (James 1988:59). The
34
one exception may be a very late Olive Jar, perhaps dating to the nineteenth-century
occupation of Ciudad Vieja associated with Hacienda La Bermuda.
Olive Jar vessel walls at Ciudad Vieja average 0.65 cm in diameter, just under and in
agreement with the rough 0.7 cm thickness of Goggin's (1960:Table 8) early-style jars,
and in contrast with the 1.0–1.2 cm thick middle-style jars. Unfortunately, while large jar
fragments were recovered, none are very informative regarding form. No Olive Jar
handles have been recovered from Ciudad Vieja, and only one possible handle scar on
a body sherd (and not from controlled excavation context). Goggin (1960) emphasized
handles as distinctive of early-style jars, while Marken (1994) did not.
Close to half of all Olive Jar fragments were recovered from Structure 3D2, a possible
marketplace located on the south edge of the main plaza, representing approximately
4% (by weight) of the total ceramic assemblage at that locus. Quantities are
substantially smaller at other excavated contexts. This suggests that Olive Jars may
have been discarded in some quantities near central markets or stores, but were not
used for substantial transport or storage within the rest of the site.
Chronologically, the Olive Jar specimens place the main occupation of Ciudad Vieja in
the early to mid-sixteenth century.
Majolica
Twenty-three majolica fragments were recovered from Ciudad Vieja. The influence of
majolica on indigenous pottery traditions is detailed in the section on hybrid plates.
However, the actual quantity of majolica is very small.
Five fragments of Caparra Blue, a sixteenth-century type used for medicine jars, were
found at Ciudad Vieja (Deagan 1987:62-63; Goggin 1968:134-135). Also dating to early
during the colonial period is the small tab handle found on a Columbia Plain escudilla
(Goggin 1968:122-123), one of nine Columbia Plain fragments. (See Figure 15.)
The other significant identified type of majolica at Ciudad Vieja is Sevilla Blue-on-White,
present as two fragments of plates. As discussed in the section on hybrid plates, this
type is generally associated with the later sixteenth-century, but is found in México City
as early as 1530 (Lister and Lister 1982).
35
Figure 15. Olive Jar rim profiles. All pertain to Goggin's early style, except Rim 1388 (possibly a
very late form and paste).
36
Figure 16. Sevilla Blue-on-White majolica fragment.
Locally Produced Hybrid Plates: An In-Depth Analysis of Ciudad Vieja Colono
Ware
The Spanish vecinos of San Salvador adopted indigenous ceramics into their lives with
little trouble. Pottery with clear ties to the ceramic traditions of the pre-Hispanic
Postclassic period dominates all archaeological contexts at Ciudad Vieja. But in the
case of serving vessels, we also see the influence of the new colonists. The primary
type of serving vessel found at Ciudad Vieja is a buff- to orange-colored, low-fired,
unglazed, brimmed plate, often painted in red with motifs that harken back into the
Postclassic period. This form closely copies that of imported majolica plates, while
preserving the technological and other aesthetic elements of pre-Columbian Pipil
ceramic traditions. This phenomenon of stylistic adoption of European ceramic traits by
indigenous American potters has been recorded at other colonial sites in the western
hemisphere. Generally dubbed colono ware, the most common hypothesis concerning
these vessels is that they are an indigenous response to scarcity of imported pottery
desired by European settlers (Vernon 1988). A less visible and more recent approach
has suggested that colono vessels are indicative in some way of indigenous
acculturation into a European-dominated colonial society.
37
Figure 17. Colono ware plate.
Traditionally Mesoamerican women were the primary creators of pottery vessels until
the adoption of the pottery wheel and other European techniques (Reina and Hill 1978).
We know that at least some indigenous women moved to San Salvador from elsewhere
in Mesoamerica, as part of families including Spanish men. It is conceivable that some
of these women may have been the creators of hybrid brimmed plates. However, in
addition to the basic assumption that most migrants to Ciudad Vieja were male auxiliary
troops, and that many of the women living in San Salvador were local Pipils, the most
common decorative motif (see Figure 18) painted on these hybrid plates, is similar to
designs painted on Postclassic serving bowls in central and western El Salvador
(Verhagen 1997:Figure 7.1). These groups of parallel lines, connected by a
perpendicular line, are found on Catalina Red-on-White bowls found in the Izalcos
region of western El Salvador (one example has been recovered from Ciudad Vieja),
and a similar pattern of vertical stripes is painted on the inside of a number of simple
bowls found at Ciudad Vieja. This would indicate that hybrid brimmed plates were
classified as "serving bowls" by the first generation of colonial Pipil potters.
38
Figure 18. "Diagonal Pi" design, plates and bowls.
39
This should come as no surprise, as these vessels typically outnumber simple bowls by
a factor of 2:1 or 3:1 in nearly all excavated contexts at Ciudad Vieja, and are found
associated with every excavated structure. Structure 3D1, located near the center of
San Salvador, and remarkable for boasting two sets of floor tiles of different sizes, and a
high incidence of imported Spanish pottery (including a large number of olive jar
fragments, a fragment of Columbia Plain majolica, and a Caparra Blue majolica drug
jar), has the highest percentage of brimmed plates associated with it, making up 29% of
all vessels with an identifiable form. The second-highest percentage of hybrid brimmed
plates (23%) comes from Structure 2F1, the best candidate at Ciudad Vieja for an
indigenous household, located on the outskirts of town, with no Spanish architecture or
ceramics, minimal iron artifacts, and strong evidence for textile production with spindle
whorls (almost certainly undertaken by a Mesoamerican woman). Only in Structures
6F1 and 5E2 do serving-ware bowls outnumber hybrid plates. On average, they make
up roughly 17% of all ceramic vessels in a given assemblage.
Table 1. Occurrence of hybrid colono ware plates
in the structure assemblages of Ciudad Vieja
Serving-ware
Plate %
Bowls %
Plates %
of Total
of Serving
of Total
Structure Assemblage Assemblage
Vessels
Comments on Context
3D1
29%
9%
76%
Spanish architecture (including distinct sets of floor tiles), high
incidence of olive jars
2F1
23%
5%
82%
Indigenous household, no Spanish architecture or ceramics,
possible textile production
6F2
22%
9%
71%
Spanish architecture, iron forge, large midden deposit
6F4
14%
5%
74%
Spanish architecture, no roof tile, kitchen and trash midden,
indigenous labor
6F3
14%
6%
70%
Baked earth oven
3D2
13%
6%
68%
Spanish architecture, iron forge, kitchen midden
6F1
12%
15%
44%
Spanish architecture includes mosaic floor, carved column
bases
5E2
9%
18%
33%
Spanish architecture
The bulk of ceramics at Ciudad Vieja belong to the Alvarado group and the Bermúdez
groups (while Bermúdez plates are only a small portion of the entire plate population,
plates are a large percentage of Bermúdez vessels) described above. While clearly
related to the unpublished protohistoric Cuscatlán and Teshcal ceramic groups
designated by Paul Amaroli (1992), the Ciudad Vieja ceramic assemblage provides a
larger breadth of forms, especially hybrid brimmed plate serving vessels that are
reported neither by Amaroli nor others studying the Protohistoric-Colonial period in El
40
Salvador. Alvarado ceramics appear to also be related to Haberland's (1964)
Postclassic Marihua Red-on-Buff, although Marihua painted lines are much broader and
sloppier than those on Alvarado ceramics.
In addition, 17 hybrid plate fragments (2.8% of all plates) belong to the red-slipped, fine
orange-paste Bermúdez group.
Methodology
A total of 618 fragmented plates were classified in more detail than standard type
classification, in particular through the use of four distinct zones comprising the body of
the plate. For each of these zones, form, thickness, and any painted designs were
recorded. In addition, orifice diameter, rim width, well diameter, and well depth were
recorded when possible.
Zone A consists of the lip/rim of the vessel. 393 examples could be classified by form in
Zone A (64% of all plates). Form, thickness, and painted/slipped design motif were
recorded for Zone A. Form was classified into one of 22 different categories by profile
(A1–A24).
Zone B consists of the area of a plate between the rim (excluding the lip as part of Zone
A) and the arista (the "corner" where the wing meets the well, Lister and Lister
1975:18). In other words, Zone B is the brim (also known as the wing) of a brimmed
plate. Form was classified into one of 13 (B1–B13) profile categories. Brim form could
be classified for 482 plates (78% of all plates), making it the most commonly identified
plate section.
Zone C consists of the small, somewhat vertical, zone between the arista and the base
of the plate. Zone C could be classified in 247 cases (40% of all plates), using 19 form
categories (C1–C19). Two additional measurements were made here. The first is of the
exterior height from the interior point of the arista to the bottom of the plate base
(labeled CHE in Figure 19, shown below). The second measurement taken in this Zone
was the horizontal diameter of the plate well. In most cases, this was estimated using
the same orifice diameter charts used to determine vessel orifice diameter.
Zone D consists of the base of the vessel. Basal morphology could be determined for
only 93 of 618 plates (15%). Plate bases were classified into only nine (D1–D9) form
categories. Well depth was recorded here (the vertical distance between the top of the
Zone C join and the interior of the base, labeled DHI in Figure 19).
The variables of type classification, surface treatment, and weight, applied to all ceramic
sherds studied in the Ciudad Vieja collection, were recorded for each case.
41
Figure 19. Schematic division for study zones and measurements of Ciudad Vieja colono ware
plates.
Form
The obvious defining characteristic of hybrid Alvarado group plates is form. While
shallow platters and bowls, and some brimmed tripod vessels were produced in
Mesoamerica prior to European contact, the brimmed plate does not seem to have an
indigenous antecedent. The closest antecedents to the Alvarado plate form are Spanish
and Italian majolica, tin-glazed serving vessels. Christian European potters began to
appropriate this technique from Muslim potters in the thirteenth century, who
themselves were copying Chinese porcelain (Carnegy 1993:12; Lister and Lister 1987;
Poole 1997). (See Figure 20.)
The Pipil potters who made the hybrid plates were very familiar with the original subject
matter. Detailed analysis of vessel form by section, in comparison with published
information on Spanish and Italian sixteenth-century majolica, reveals that the
indigenous potters who made Alvarado plates had a keen eye for variation within
European ceramic forms. Morisco-tradition majolica such as Columbia Plain is often the
most commonly found majolica at sixteenth century Spanish colonial sites, but its form
is poorly represented in the Alvarado hybrid plates. Five of the hybrid plates (0.8% of
the total collection) have the distinctive thicker body, curved form, and low-ridge-like
break between the "wing" and the "well" of the plate. These examples do not have the
geometric designs common to Alvarado group vessels, and are instead red-slipped in
part or whole. Two of the five are Bermúdez group ceramics, one of which has a mildly
scalloped rim. Several small majolica fragments of the most common morisco type,
Columbia Plain, have been identified at Ciudad Vieja.
42
Figure 20. Ciudad Vieja plate profiles vs. Majolica plate profiles. a: Hybrid Morisco-style plate,
Ciudad Vieja; b: Morisco- (top) and Italianate- (bottom three) style hybrid plates, Ciudad Vieja; c:
Morisco plates (Lister and Lister 1982: Fig. 4.3 h-j); d: Sevilla Ware plates (Lister and Lister 1982,
Fig 4.23 h-j).
43
Instead, the vast majority of plates are the thinner walled, brimmed plates of the Italian
tradition. Italian potters and technology began arriving in Seville in the sixteenth century,
and by the middle of the century, Italian-style plates were an important product of
Andalusia (Pleguezuelo and La Fuente 1995:237-240). Spanish-produced Sevillian
ware plates, in the Italianate tradition, are uncommon in the Americas during the
historically recorded occupation of Ciudad Vieja, but are present by roughly 1530,
particularly in México City (Deagan 1987; Lister and Lister 1982).
Figure 21. The four most common B-C form combinations in Ciudad Vieja hybrid plates.
An analysis of the Ciudad Vieja hybrid plates (Card 2005), in comparison with sixteenth
century European majolica, shows very close similarities in form to Italian majolica
contemporary with the historically documented occupation of Ciudad Vieja (Lessmann
1979; Watson 1986). Several of these forms are characterized by, in part, a horizontal
flat brim. While no Italian majolica has been found at Ciudad Vieja, we have found two
pieces of Italianate-style Spanish majolica, Sevilla Blue on White. It appears certain that
the indigenous potters who produced the hybrid vessels were handling original majolica
plates imported from Europe. Furthermore, while Morisco majolica is somewhat more
common than Italianate majolica at Ciudad Vieja, over 95% of the hybrid plates have
the newer and more stylish Italianate forms. Italianate, and not Morisco, forms also
dominate the production of Spanish majolica potters in México City starting during the
later part of the occupation of Ciudad Vieja (Lister and Lister 1982), though it should be
noted we have no evidence for Mexican majolica at Ciudad Vieja.
44
Decoration
Alvarado Group hybrid plates are either plain or decorated with painted red geometric
designs on orange to buff paste or orange to buff-self-slipped surfaces. Bermúdez
group hybrid plates are by definition red slipped, and are mostly monochromatic (though
one example was decorated with a two-tone "diagonal pi" motif). The most important
zone for painted decoration on hybrid plates is the wide brim.
The four most common decoration motifs on the brim include:
 No decoration identified, 18% of all plates (45% of identifiable designs).
 "Diagonal pi" (see Figure 18), 12% of all plates (30% of identifiable designs). This
design appears to be an adaptation of geometric designs applied to pre-contact
Pipil, and contact-period Alvarado group bowls. The original "striped" design,
occurring on Ciudad Vieja bowls, is found on the pre-contact, Postclassic
Catalina Red-on-White type of western El Salvador (Verhagen 1998), as well as
in Amaroli's unpublished protohistoric Cuscatlán group.
 Solid red slip, 8% of all plates (20% of identifiable designs). All five morisco-style
hybrid plates were red slipped, and displayed no other decoration. Though the
sample number is small, this difference clearly sets the morisco-style hybrid
plates apart from the Italiante hybrid plates by decoration, as well as form.
 Spiked Combs or Triangles (see Figure 22), 2% of all plates (5% of identifiable
designs), and also present on bulbous-necked cántaro water jars. Amongst
plates, this design only occurs on concave brims (seven examples, two on B4
plates, five on B6 plates).
Such decoration links the hybrid plates not only to contemporary painted bowls and
cántaros in the Ciudad Vieja assemblage, but to a deeper tradition represented in
Postclassic El Salvador by Marihua Red on Buff, and possibly to the Pipil migrations
from México (Fowler 1989:32-49). There was no attempt to adopt European painted
designs or technologies, only form.
45
Figure 22. "Spiked Triangle" design, plates and cántaros.
Technology
Technologically, the Alvarado group hybrid plates are purely indigenous. There is no
evidence for the use of the potter's wheel. None of the Alvarado group hybrid plates
were glazed. The indigenous surface treatment techniques used to construct colono
plates included: smoothing, burnishing, and linear burnishing (burnishing that leaves
non-burnished 'streaks' between burnish facets or marks).
46
As mentioned above in the discussion of form, the brim is the most sensitive and useful
variable for classifying hybrid plates. The table below displays the relationship between
brim form and interior surface treatment. Interior surfaces are roughly divided between
non-lustrous smooth, and lustrous polished, with a few burnished examples. Flatbrimmed plates (B9 in Figure 21) were more likely than concave brimmed plates to be
polished on the interior surface. This pattern is also observed for the exterior, but is less
statistically reliable.
Table 2. Common plate brim forms vs. interior surface treatment
2
(df = 8,  = 13.804, p = 0.087)
Brim Form
Smooth
B2
Expected
2

39
Smooth %
Polished
52.7%
Polished %
31
Burnished
41.9%
34.38
35.63
3.99
0.620
0.602
0.00
B3
13
50%
9
34.6%
Expected
12.08
12.52
1.40
2
0.070
0.989
4.824
B4
Expected
2

22
48.9%
22
48.9%
20.91
21.67
2.42
0.057
0.005
0.837
B6
34
50%
30
44.1%
Expected
31.60
32.74
3.66
2
0.183
0.229
0.031
B9
Expected
2

Total
30
35.7%
51
60.7%
39.03
40.44
4.53
2.089
2.755
0.514
138
46.5%
143
48.1%
Burnished %
4
5.4%
4
15.4%
1
2.2%
4
5.9%
3
3.6%
16
5.4%
The isolation of flat-brimmed plates from the rest of the hybrid-plate population also
extends to paste and temper sorting.
47
Table 3. Common plate brim forms vs. inclusion coarseness
2
(df = 4,  = 10.740, p = 0.03)
Brim Form
B2
Expected
2

Coarse %
(all types)
Coarse
68
69.4%
67.2
24.8
0.009
0.026
B3
29
85.3%
Expected
23.37
8.63
2
1.354
3.669
B4
Expected
2

33
70.2%
33.6
12.4
0.011
0.029
B6
65
75.6%
Expected
60.63
22.37
2
0.315
0.854
76
B9
Expected
2

Total
60.3%
86.19
31.81
1.206
3.267
271
Fine %
(all types)
Fine
61.9%
24
24.5%
3
8.8%
13
27.7%
18
20.9%
42
33.3%
100
22.8%
While in all cases the bulk of plates (like the bulk of Ciudad Vieja ceramics) are coarsely
tempered, flat-brimmed plates (B9) were better sorted than plates with other forms.
Conversely, steeply-angled concave brimmed plates were rarely finely sorted. This
variation is even more statistically significant than surface treatment, with a p-value of
0.03.
With the exception of morisco-style hybrid plates (all five of which are red-slipped), there
are no significant surface color variations in regard to brim form, with roughly 75-85% of
plates possessing a pale surface when one could be detected. Orange (10%) and
brown surfaces (4%) seem to vary from pale surfaces due to firing variation or in some
cases compacted and darker surfaces due to burnishing. Red slipped surfaces are
found on 6.1% of the non-morisco hybrid plates.
48
Implications for Indigenous Occupation of San Salvador and Sixteenth-Century
Culture Change
A common explanation for the adoption of European forms by indigenous potters in
Spanish America is that of scarcity (Charlton and Fournier-Garcia 1993; Vernon
1988:79). Spanish settlers, hoping to replicate some elements of the home life they
knew in Iberia, direct local potters to try as best they can to produce serving vessels
reminiscent of hard-to-obtain European majolica. In some places, such as mission
(Vernon 1988; Weisman 1992) or fort sites (Bense and Wilson 2003) in Spanish Florida,
this explanation seems to work. At these sites, hybrid plates and other vessels are
significantly more common in trash dumps and other contexts associated with Spanish
architecture, than in nearby indigenous residential zones. However, this is not the case
at Ciudad Vieja, where hybrid plates are encountered in large quantities across the site,
in presumed Spanish and indigenous residential deposits. As we believe that a
substantial number of inhabitants of Ciudad Vieja were indigenous to Mesoamerica,
particularly those that resided in Structure 2F1, Ciudad Vieja does not support the
hypothesis suggested for indigenously produced colono wares at other sites in the
circum-Caribbean region, that such vessels were produced primarily for Spaniards
hungry for familiar but unavailable material culture.
Instead, while Spanish settlers may have been the initial impetus or "market" for this
new form, it seems to have been embraced by the indigenous inhabitants of San
Salvador. But only within San Salvador. Elsewhere in the former Pipil kingdoms of
Izalco and Cuscatlán, brimmed hybrid vessels do not appear, even in assemblages
where the rest of the ceramic inventory is clearly related to that of Ciudad Vieja (Amaroli
1992). Scalloped-lip red-slipped bowls, inspired by contemporary majolica or glass
vessels, were used at late-sixteenth century Caluco (Verhagen 1997: Fig 7.17). Two
examples of what may be similar bowls, both red slipped, were recovered from Ciudad
Vieja. Verhagen also notes a deep, brimmed bowl (Fig 7.19). But brimmed hybrid plates
are not present at later Caluco.
The difference at Ciudad Vieja is the presence of large numbers of uprooted indigenous
people living at a location that was not previously inhabited. Unlike México City,
Santiago de los Caballeros, and other early Spanish colonial capitols including the first
San Salvador of 1525 (Lardé y Larín 2000:85), Ciudad Vieja was not founded within the
confines of an existing settlement (Barón Castro 1996:43). With the exception of new
indios and mestizos born at Ciudad Vieja, all of the inhabitants would have moved there
from their previous home. The Spanish and other European conquistadores were far
from home, but so too were the Mesoamerican auxiliary troops and naborías that
accompanied the Spanish colonists to Cuscatlán. The documentary record speaks of
Spanish allies, native auxiliary troops, from México. Several hundreds to thousands of
Tlaxcaltecs, Cholulans, Tetzcocans, and other "Mexicans" took part in the conquest of
Guatemala, including what is now El Salvador (Barón Castro 1996:66; Escalante Arce
2001:20-21; Lardé y Larín 2000:53). While still within the greater culture area of
Mesoamerica, Mexicans and Mayas would also have been far from home, foreigners to
the Pipil and Europeans alike. Foreign Mesoamericans resident in San Salvador may
have realized that in their culturally isolated situation, adoption of Spanish cultural
49
elements may have been an important guarantor of continued recognition as indios
amigos.
Even those originating closer to San Salvador would have been away from home, as
there was no settlement at Ciudad Vieja immediately before the arrival of the Spanish.
Presumably some of the thousands of Indians held to encomienda requirements by the
vecinos of San Salvador worked and lived, at least on a temporary basis, on-site.
Spanish laws were designed to keep such absences to "reasonable" spans of time,
such as four months (Sherman 1979:314). Other roles for indigenous people in San
Salvador may have included as wives (San Salvador vecino Francisco Castellón
married the Mixtec mestiza Catalina Gutiérrez in 1539 or 1540 [Lardé y Larín 2000:194195, 260-261]), concubines (Sherman 1979:305-306), clients, itinerant laborers (some
Indian laborers were paid to construct the new ciudad de San Salvador that replaced
Ciudad Vieja [Sherman 1979:96]), apprentices, craftspeople, nurses (Sherman
1979:323), servants, or slaves (Lardé y Larín 2000:67; Sherman 1979:91, 196).
Throughout the sixteenth-century, wage-laborers were isolated even further from their
original communities by participation in Spanish-inspired religious fraternities
(Rodríguez-Alegria 2002:125-126). Even if travel to nearby Pipil towns was frequent,
Pipiles would have been to some degree strangers in a foreign-dominated colony, as
well as increasingly in their home communities.
Lastly, San Salvador was also a slaving colony (Sherman 1979:27). The vecinos of San
Salvador, feeling that the Indians of their encomiendas were not sufficient, campaigned
to the east of the Lempa with their indigenous auxiliaries, to acquire more slaves,
specifically, Lencas. These lands and their inhabitants were soon redistributed after the
founding of San Miguel in 1530, leading the San Salvadoreños to conquer into the
mountains to the north, in the direction of Honduras-Higueras (Barón Castro 1996:135136, 150, 165-166, 187). This situation was not unusual in the Spanish colonies. In
Panama, only 27% of Indians counted in a 1550 census were locals (Cooke et al.
2003:22-23). Four-hundred slaves were liberated from San Salvador in 1548, only three
years after the documented transfer away from Ciudad Vieja (Sherman 1979:73).
The isolation from existing cultural and social networks may have increased the
pressures of acculturation and syncretism on the non-Spanish inhabitants of Ciudad
Vieja, particularly the non-Pipil. The cultural reinforcements built into a society's
institutions that could act to slow acculturative processes (Rogers 1993), would have
been largely absent inside of the Spanish colony of San Salvador. Hybridized vessels
appear to be linked not so much to the adoption of European material culture, nor to
daily interaction with Europeans, but to the dissolution of traditional indigenous society
through the physical removal of people from existing pre-Hispanic settlements and
resettlement in new towns and cities.
In only two other cases, hybrid serving vessels, produced by indigenous potters,
dominate serving vessels in a site's ceramic assemblage, making up close to 20% of
the entire ceramic assemblage. One is Amelia Island, Florida, where missionized Guale
Indians were resettled due to Franco-Spanish conflict (Saunders 2000:136-142). The
other is Old Mobile, Alabama, where again due to Franco-Spanish conflict, missionized
50
Apalachee Indians from Spanish Florida resettled in a French town (Cordell 2002; Silvia
2000). In both cases, indigenous potters had begun making colono wares, but in small
quantities, prior to resettlement. Due to their discovery primarily in Spanish architectural
contexts, these cases have been cited as evidence that colono ware serving vessels
were produced by indigenous potters for Spaniards unable to obtain sufficient quantities
of majolica.
But in both cases, after migration as refugees and resettlement, the production of
colono ware serving vessels increases dramatically to 18-20% of the ceramic
assemblage. Furthermore, these vessels are found in large quantities in contexts where
architectural and other evidence suggest the occupants were indigenous, and not
European. As shown above, the same holds true for Ciudad Vieja, where 17% of the
ceramic assemblage is colono ware plates. In all of these cases, indigenous households
are enthusiastic consumers of colono wares. And in all three cases, the "indigenous"
inhabitants of these communities have been uprooted as refugees, soldiers, servants,
or slaves. By contrast, in colonial sites that predate European contact and conquest as
previously existing communities, colono ware production is relatively low, and
consumption in many cases is largely found in contexts believed to have been created
by Spanish colonists.
The Chipped Stone Industry
Methodological and Theoretical Considerations
The chipped-stone industry of Ciudad Vieja is classified according to technological and
behavioral considerations (Clark and Lee 1979; Sheets 1975, 1978; Fowler 1981,
1991a). The emphasis on technological and behavioral considerations allows a
reconstruction of the nature and structure of an artifact industry. Another advantage to
this method of classification is that the analyst bases the classification on inherent
attributes derived from the manufacturing process, resulting in a classification that is
more-or-less inherent in the artifacts themselves. "An industry refers to the artifacts,
including the wastage in their manufacture, of a common raw material, which were
manufactured using a common body of procedures" (Sheets 1978:3). Therefore, we are
viewing inherent, not arbitrary or artificially imposed, categories of material culture.
The fundamental criteria for recognizing taxonomic units in behavioral classification are
"behavioral discontinuities" (Sheets 1975:375). These are points in the sequence of
artifact manufacture at which the artisan changed from one technique of production to
another. The classic example of a behavioral discontinuity is the shift in a typical
Mesoamerican chipped-stone industry from percussion to pressure in core reduction or
in the manufacture of obsidian prismatic blades (Sheets 1975:279; Fowler 1981:278279). The evidence indicating this shift in behavior or manufacturing technique is
physically recorded on the artifacts themselves and reflected in the artifact classes
"macroblade" and "small percussion blade" (removed from a polyhedral core by
percussion) versus "prismatic blade" (removed from the core by pressure).
51
These artifact classes, while recognized and designated by the analyst, result from the
behavior of the knapper who made the blades. Thus, when the analyst accurately
identifies and interprets these behavioral discontinuities and uses them as a basis for
ordering behavioral types, the typology becomes a model of the real structure of the
industry. Typologies of the more complex Mesoamerican chipped-stone industries
represent linear reduction models that reflect manufacturing behavior and production
technology. It has been shown that these sequences vary considerably through time
and space according to raw material, raw material availability, demand for lithic tools,
functions for which the tools were designed, levels of knapper skill and specialization
and skill, volume of production, and many other factors too numerous to mention
(Fowler 1991a:3).
Deliberate modification of a blank or preform to produce a special-purpose object.
Macroblades may be modified by unifacial retouching to produce scrapers or through
bifacial retouching to produce projectile points. Another example would be the
modification of a prismatic blade segment through unifacial pressure retouch to create a
drill or an arrow point. The morphology of retouched or modified artifacts manifests itself
in the final stage of artifact production. Therefore, morphological criteria should be used
at a low taxonomic level to subdivide technological types.
Form is related to function, and functional analysis through microscopic examination of
edge-wear is also an important part of behavioral and technological analysis. Many
chipped-stone analyses conduct functional analysis on only a sample of the total
number of artifacts. In the present analysis, functional analysis was conducted on all
artifacts.
Procedure
The first step in any artifact analysis is the initial sorting based on raw material. At
Ciudad Vieja, initial sorting took place in the field rather than in the laboratory, as all
artifact classes were bagged or packaged separately according to raw materials. Once
in the laboratory, all artifacts were carefully washed, labeled, and inventoried. Once the
initial stage of classification was underway, we employed basic sorting categories
derived from previous obsidian analyses from Chalchuapa (Sheets 1978) and Cihuatán
(Fowler 1981), pre-Columbian Salvadoran archaeological sites with large obsidian
artifact assemblages. The basic sorting categories derived from these previous
researches were: debitage (waste flakes), utilized flakes, macroblades, prismatic
blades, cores, unifacially retouched macroblades, unifacially retouched prismatic
blades, and bifacially retouched macroblades. Nevertheless, it became immediately
apparent upon first inspection that the Ciudad Vieja obsidian assemblage is far less
complex than that of either of these two pre-Columbian sites used as a point of
departure and a basis of comparison. Specifically, the overwhelmingly predominant type
class in the Ciudad Vieja assemblage is the prismatic blade, while macroblades are
absent, and cores are exceedingly rare. Bifaces are also uncommon. The implications
of this truncated assemblage will be discussed below.
52
The next stage of the analysis was to record all metric data and non-metric attributes for
every obsidian artifact. Proximal prismatic blade specimens were measured for length,
width, thickness, and weight. The type and intensity of platform preparation and platform
overhand removal were noted. All measurements were made with a stainless steel
sliding caliper. Weights were taken with an Ohaus beam-balance scale. Edge-wear and
retouch were also recorded. Microscopic edge-wear analysis was conducted on all
artifacts using a Bausch and Lomb jeweler's loupe with 5X-7X-12X magnification,
mostly used at 12X, and a Zeiss Stemi DV4 stereomicroscope with continuous variable
magnification from 8X to 32X, mostly used at 12X to 16X. The combination of the loupe
and the stereomicroscope proved to be very useful in detecting manufacturing evidence
and wear patterns that were invisible to the naked eye.
The Collection
Included in the total analyzed collection are 609 obsidian artifacts from controlled
surface collections and excavations of the structures described above. Based on visual
inspection virtually all of these artifacts were manufactured from Ixtepeque obsidian.
Ixtepeque obsidian tends to be translucent, medium to light gray in color, often with a
golden hue, and sometimes with some banding or cloudiness caused by the inclusion of
impurities. Located in southeastern Guatemala, Ixtepeque would have been the closest
source to the site. Three prismatic blade fragments are of green obsidian, and are
presumably of material from the Pachuca, Hidalgo, source (cf. Sheets 1978:13). Several
artifacts are a very dark, opaque, gray obsidian and may be from a Mexican source.
Obsidian artifacts are ubiquitous at Ciudad Vieja. They are abundant on the surface of
the site, and there is no excavated context in which they do not occur. There is no doubt
about the contemporaneity of Ciudad Vieja obsidian artifacts with the main occupation
of the site in the second quarter of the sixteenth century.
Typology
Flakes and Utilized Flakes
Frequency. 47 (7%)
A flake by definition is any lithic artifact removed from a core whose length is less than
twice its width. Conversely, a blade is at least twice as long as it is wide. These flakes
for the most part appear to have been removed from small, cylindrical cores (probably
exhausted polyhedral cores) by percussive force. Almost all of them show evidence of
use for light cutting or scraping. Table 4 summarizes the metric values.
53
Table 4. Ciudad Vieja obsidian flakes, metric values (n = 47)
Length (cm)
Width (cm)
Thickness (cm)
Weight (g)
mean
2.65
2.48
1.42
2.22
σ
0.021
0.69296465
0.16970563
0.35355339
range
0.82-3.43
0.05-2.9
0.02-2.7
0.02-6.3
Figure 23. Proximal segments of obsidian prismatic blades.
Prismatic Blades (Figure 23, shown above)
Frequency. 557 (85%)
Prismatic blades are long and thin with parallel lateral edges. They were removed,
probably by impulsive pressure from carefully prepared polyhedral cores. Several
contrasting features distinguish prismatic blades from small percussion blades.
Prismatic blade platforms tend to be smaller in area than those of percussion blades.
The former do not exhibit platform crushing which does often occur on percussion
blades. The bulbs of force tend to be smaller on prismatic blades, and they do not show
ripple marks or compression rings which often occur on percussion blades. These
characteristics indicate a shift from percussion to pressure flaking as the means for
removing the blades.
The distal ends of complete specimens taper to a thin, sharp termination, but there are
no complete specimens in the Ciudad Vieja collection. Prismatic blades tend to be
trapezoidal in transverse section (with two dorsal ridges), and, less often, some are
54
triangular in transverse section (with one dorsal ridge). They are concavo-convex in
longitudinal section (the ventral surface is slightly concave).
Obsidian prismatic blades were used for a multitude of tasks by ancient Mesoamerican
cultures. Cutting, scraping, whittling, and shaving were probably among the most
common uses. In addition, as mentioned previously, obsidian prismatic blades could be
modified into special-purpose implements.
The following tables present metric values for prismatic blades and the size of platforms
measured on proximal segments. Since all blades were broken or snapped, the
measurement of length is incomplete.
Table 5. Ciudad Vieja prismatic blades, metric values (n = 557)
Length (cm)
Width (cm)
Thickness (cm)
Weight (g)
mean
2.01
1.25
0.34
1.08
σ
0.74
0.35
0.85
1.06
range
0.09-5.55
0.25-2.99
0.1-3.5
0.02-3.6
Table 6. Ciudad Vieja prismatic blade platform size
(proximal segments), metric values (n = 96)
Length (cm)
Width (cm)
mean
0.81
0.34
σ
0.06
0.09
range
0.23-1.88
0.12-0.55
With regard to platform treatment and overhang-removal treatment, all of the 96
proximal segments had their platforms ground before being removed from the core. All
were lightly to moderately ground. Grinding or abrading the platform surface increases
the friction between the platform surface and the flaking tool, reducing tool slippage and
flaking errors. Abrading the platform surface also breaks the surface tension of the
platform, reducing the amount of force required for the removal of the blade (Sheets
1978a:12). Likewise, all 96 specimens had their platform overhang removed by light to
moderate grinding or scraping around the edge of the core. Platform surface treatment
and overhang removal are traits that change through time in ancient Mesoamerican
industries, with light to moderate grinding becoming increasingly frequent in the
Postclassic (Sheets 1978a:11-12, 73-74).
The cutting edge-to-mass (CE/M) ratio of Ciudad Vieja prismatic blades, calculated by
dividing the total acute cutting edge (total length X 2) in centimeters by the total weight
55
in grams (Sheets and Muto 1972), is 3.74. This number was calculated on the entire
collection of 557 prismatic blades. The CE/M ratio is an indicator of efficiency in blade
production as well as scarcity or distance from the source of raw material. In general,
knappers tended to maximize cutting edge when obsidian is scarcer (Fowler 1991a:3;
Sheets 1978a:11, 1978b; Sidrys 1976:155-167, 1978:150-152). The CE/M ratio of 3.74
for Ciudad Vieja is relatively high but slightly lower than that of some Postclassic sites.
For comparison, the CE/M ratio of prismatic blades from Cihuatán, an Early Postclassic
Pipil site located very near Ciudad Vieja, is 4.38 (Fowler et al. 1987:154). If the
difference between 3.74 for Ciudad Vieja and 4.38 for Cihuatán is significant, which it
may not be, this could mean that the indigenous inhabitants of the villa of San Salvador
had better access to obsidian, or at least to prismatic blades, than the Early Postclassic
Pipils who inhabited Cihuatán roughly 400-500 years before the Conquest. It is quite
possible that the Conquest changed or upset many of the socioeconomic factors that
limited the exchange or acquisition of blades in pre-Hispanic times (Fowler et al.
1987:154-155).
Figure 24. Proximal and distal segments of small percussion blades.
Small Percussion Blades (Figure 24, shown above)
Frequency. 25 (4%)
Small percussion blades are generally slightly larger and thicker than prismatic blades,
although smaller examples may fall within the lower end of the range for prismatic
blades. They were removed from a conical, polyhedral core by a percussion blow, as
evidenced by platform crushing and larger bulbs of force at the proximal end.
Otherwise, they closely resemble prismatic blades and may have been used for the
same purposes. Small percussion blades could have been used for many of the same
56
tasks to which prismatic blades were put, and they could also have served for heavier
work as well.
The following tables present metric values for small percussion blades and the size of
platforms measured on proximal segments. Since all blades were broken or snapped,
the measurement of length is incomplete.
Table 7. Ciudad Vieja small percussion blades, metric values (n = 25)
Length (cm)
Width (cm)
Thickness (cm)
Weight (g)
mean
2.96
2.19
0.68
4.21
σ
0.05
0.25
0.20
0.50
range
1.46-5.45
0.95-3.84
0.26-2.2
0.65-11.2
Table 8. Ciudad Vieja small percussion blade platform size
(proximal segments), metric values (n = 13)
Length (cm)
Width (cm)
mean
0.81
0.34
σ
0.06
0.09
range
0.23-1.88
0.12-0.55
Polyhedral Cores
Frequency. 3 (>1%)
Polyhedral prismatic blade cores were shaped by percussion from macrocores and
designed for the production of prismatic blades. They begin their lifespans with conical
or cylindrical forms. As more and more blades are removed from a core, it assumes the
shape of a pointed ellipsoid or a pointed parabaloid. At this point, when no more blades
can be removed, the core is referred to as exhausted. All three of the polyhedral cores
known from Ciudad Vieja are exhausted. In addition, all of them were smashed or
broken by bipolar percussion. One of them shows signs of having been used as a
reamer, with its parallel ridges worn smooth in a rotary motion.
The following table summaries metric values for these three specimens.
57
Table 9. Ciudad Vieja polyhedral core fragments, metric values (n = 3)
Length (cm)
Width (cm)
Thickness (cm)
Weight (g)
2.05
1.57
0.61
2.5
2.4
1.1
1.05
1.31
2.5
1.2
1.2
1.4
Figure 25. Laterally retouched projectile points on prismatic blades.
Laterally Retouched Implements
Triangular Points on Prismatic Blade Blanks (Figure 25, shown above)
Frequency. 7 (1%)
These are small, laterally retouched projectile points made from snapped prismatic
blades. They may be made from a proximal or medial segment. The prismatic blade
platform may form the proximal or distal end of the point. All are triangular in outline,
plano-triangular in transverse section, and concavo-convex in longitudinal section. The
edges and points are formed by careful pressure unifacial retouch along both edges of
both faces. Retouch is usually a bit heavier from the ventral to dorsal surface. The
bases are straight, un-thinned, and slightly ground. The following table summarizes
metric values for these points.
Small, triangular points made on prismatic blade segments are widespread in
Mesoamerica during the Postclassic period (Fowler 1989:372-377). Some have straight
bases, while others have thinned, concave bases. The similarity in morphology and
technology of these points suggests that they were all made in the same place, possibly
by Mexican auxiliary troops.
58
Table 10. Ciudad Vieja laterally retouched points on prismatic blades, metric values (n = 7)
Length (cm)
Width (cm)
Thickness (cm)
Weight (g)
2.85
1.5
0.3
2
1.9
1.5
0.25
0.8
3
1.45
0.25
2.3
2.9
1.2
0.3
1.1
3
1
0.3
1.1
3.5
1.4
3.5
1.7
1.8
1.1
0.3
0.6
Figure 26. Ciudad Vieja bifacially retouched projectile points.
59
Bifacially Retouched Implements
Stemmed Projectile Points (Figure 26, shown above).
Frequency. 4 (>1%)
The four bifacially retouched obsidian artifacts recorded here are projectile points or
projectile point fragments made on small macroblade blanks. The three complete
examples are plano-convex in transverse section and concavo-convex in longitudinal
section. They have ovate blades with expanded, convex stems, and they are side
notched. It is tempting to speculate that these points were weapons used by Mexican
auxiliary troops.
Table 11. Ciudad Vieja bifaces, metric values (n = 4)
Length (cm)
Width (cm)
Thickness (cm)
Weight (g)
2.8
3.4
1.1
11
5.41
2.57
0.66
10.8
4.68
2.43
0.65
9.3
1.23
2.62
0.46
1.45
Miscellaneous
Frequency. 14 (2%)
Fourteen artifacts or debitage fragments were classified as miscellaneous. These
include three scraper-like implements made on small percussion blade segments and a
drill-like tool on a small percussion blade segment. The remaining miscellaneous
artifacts are unclassified.
Discussion
The existence of an indigenous obsidian industry at an early Spanish conquest town in
northern Central America is not surprising. Obsidian industries persisted for decades
after the Conquest in many regions of Mesoamerica. The persistence of obsidian
prismatic blade manufacturing in the Valley of México after the Conquest is historically
well documented (Clark 1982, 1989). Therefore, this kind of continuity in material culture
60
at the villa of San Salvador is to be expected. But lithic specialists familiar with
traditional Mesoamerican core-blade industries will immediately recognize an important
change that occurred. The Ciudad Vieja obsidian assemblage does not exhibit the full
array of products of a typical core-blade reduction sequence as known for pre-Hispanic
sites in southern Mesoamerica such as, for example, Chalchuapa (1978) and Cihuatán
(Fowler 1981) (for other examples, see Fowler [1991:3]).
The Cihuatán obsidian assemblage will be summarized here because it is of Early
Postclassic date, and it is probably very typical of a pre-Hispanic Pipil obsidian
assemblage. The Cihuatán obsidian industry shows the full Mesoamerican reduction
sequence in all its diversity: macroflakes, macroblades, and small percussion blades
detached from macrocores; scrapers, bifaces, small percussion blades, and prismatic
blade cores made from the reduction of large polyhedral cores; prismatic blades and
retouched, modified prismatic blades; exhausted polyhedral cores and a wide variety of
all forms of debitage from core-blade production and biface and uniface manufacture.
Raw material was acquired from several Guatemalan sources (especially Ixtepeque and
El Chayal) for use by Pipil obsidian craftsmen at Cihuatán (Fowler et al. 1987).
In contrast, the Ciudad Vieja obsidian industry is remarkable for its relative simplicity
and paucity of typological composition, indicating that it was not the product of a local
reduction sequence. There is little evidence that prismatic blades, or any other artifact
types for that matter, were produced on site, with the exception of the bipolar bashing of
exhausted prismatic blade cores to produce small percussion blades. There is no coreblade debitage and there are no blade production mistakes present in the assemblage
such as hinge fractures or outrepassé (plunging) blades as one would expect if blades
were being produced at the site (cf. Sheets 1978b). The pattern of evidence presented
here indicates that prismatic blades were probably imported ready-made for sale or
barter at the town. Like prismatic blades, exhausted blade cores and medium-size
flakes also may have been traded or brought into the site occasionally. Exhausted
polyhedral cores make very handy secondary tools such as drills and reamers, and they
were probably inexpensive. The predominant source seems to have been Ixtepeque in
southeastern Guatemala.
Thus, while we see strong continuity in the use of obsidian tools, especially the
omnipresent prismatic blade, at the villa of San Salvador by resident Pipils and Mexican
auxiliaries, a drastic change occurred in the patterns of procurement and manufacture
of these implements. In less than a generation after the Conquest, a highly specialized
skill was lost, and ancient trade and exchange patterns were greatly altered forever.
61
List of Figures
Figure 1. Map showing location of Ciudad Vieja within El Salvador.
Figure 2. Regional map indicating the location of the site of Ciudad Vieja, El Salvador.
Map by Rebecca Cutler.
Figure 3. Site plan of Ciudad Vieja showing natural topography and cultural features,
based on original 1998 total station mapping. Map by Conard Hamilton.
Figure 4. Projected map of Ciudad Vieja showing topography and grid-plan layout. Map
by Conard Hamilton. Black lines represent structures and features visible on surface;
blue lines, projected; red lines, hypothesized. The yellow rectangle at the southwest
corner of the plaza mayor indicates the location of recent excavations.
Figure 5.
Hamilton.
Locations and designations of excavated structures. Map by Conard
Figure 6. Some examples of ceramic vessels from Ciudad Vieja, all to scale.
Figure 7. Alvarado–Alvarado red-painted cántaro (with the rarer vertical stripe motif,
instead of triangular pennants).
Figure 8. Alvarado–Alvarado sartén.
Figure 9. Alvarado–Peñacorba rim sherd. Note darker brown color, and distinctive
burnishing marks.
Figure 10. Salvago cántaro.
Figure 11. Bonifacio Polychrome sherd.
Figure 12. Fine Gray ware bowl. This is the only known tripod example.
Figure 13. Usagre vessel.
Figure 14. Bermúdez colono ware plate.
Figure 15. Olive Jar rim profiles. All pertain to Goggin's early style, except Rim 1388
(possibly a very late form and paste).
Figure 16. Sevilla Blue-on-White majolica fragment.
Figure 17. Colono ware plate.
Figure 18. "Diagonal Pi" design, plates and bowls.
62
Figure 19. Schematic division for study zones and measurements of Ciudad Vieja
colono ware plates.
Figure 20. Ciudad Vieja plate profiles vs. Majolica plate profiles. a: Hybrid Morisco-style
plate, Ciudad Vieja; b: Morisco- (top) and Italianate- (bottom three) style hybrid plates,
Ciudad Vieja; c: Morisco plates (Lister and Lister 1982: Fig. 4.3 h-j); d: Sevilla Ware
plates (Lister and Lister 1982, Fig 4.23 h-j).
Figure 21.
plates.
The four most common B-C form combinations in Ciudad Vieja hybrid
Figure 22. "Spiked Triangle" design, plates and cántaros.
Figure 23. Proximal segments of obsidian prismatic blades.
Figure 24. Proximal and distal segments of small percussion blades.
Figure 25. Laterally retouched projectile points on prismatic blades.
Figure 26. Ciudad Vieja bifacially retouched projectile points.
List of Tables
Table 1. Occurrence of hybrid colono ware plates in the structure assemblages of
Ciudad Vieja.
Table 2. Common plate brim forms vs. interior surface treatment (df = 8,
= 0.087).
Table 3. Common plate brim forms vs. inclusion coarseness (df = 4,
0.03).
2

2

= 13.804, p
= 10.740, p =
Table 4. Ciudad Vieja obsidian flakes, metric values (n = 47).
Table 5. Ciudad Vieja prismatic blades, metric values (n = 557).
Table 6. Ciudad Vieja prismatic blade platform size (proximal segments), metric values
(n = 96).
Table 7. Ciudad Vieja small percussion blades, metric values (n = 25).
Table 8. Ciudad Vieja small percussion blade platform size (proximal segments), metric
values (n = 13).
Table 9. Ciudad Vieja polyhedral core fragments, metric values (n = 3).
63
Table 10. Ciudad Vieja laterally retouched points on prismatic blades, metric values (n
= 7).
Table 11. Ciudad Vieja bifaces, metric values (n = 4).
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